Scale: 1/48 - about 9 3/8"/ 23.8cm long when built

Parts: 32 resin, 2 vacuformed (canopies), 13 metal

Instructions: 6 pages; 2 exploded diagrams for assembly, two pages of profiles for painting/marking, one page history

Decals: Waterslide, printed by Scale-Master; markings for operational schemes

Molding Quality: 8 - some minor flash and bubbles, but nothing not easily fixed

Detail: 8 - finely engraved panel detail, some interior detailing

Accuracy: 9+ From all I can tell, it's spot-on.

MSRP: $79.95 USD (~$123.62 CAN/ € 84.61 EUR) available from Collect-Aire

Overall Rating: 8 - Decent kit of a unique subject

Image: Detail parts

After launching from a B-52 mothership at 40,000-45,000 ft (13,300 - 15,000m), the pilot would ignite the craft's rocket to gain speed and altitude, after which it became a glider. Six different pilots made 30 flights, totaling 4 hours flight time, between August 1, 1973 and Nover 26, 1975. The X-24B now resides at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

What You Get

Inside the sturdy box are 32 resin parts plus metal and vacuform bits. The fuselage is in two pieces, taped together, with the rest of the resin and metal parts sealed in small baggies. Also included is a brief assembly/painting guide and a sheet of waterslide decals.

The resin parts are cast in a hard, tan resin familiar to anyone who has bought a Collect-Aire kit. There are few defects (bubbles, pinholes, etc.) and very little flash. Detail consists primarly of finely scrived panel lines, with some raised bits in the gear wells and cockpit. The metal parts are well cast and none of mine were bent or warped. The vacuform canopies (a spare is provided - thank you!) are thin, distortion free, and clear -- though polishing and/or a dip in Future will greatly enhance them.

Collect-Aire has several sources of masters, and the quality of those masters can vary between extremely good and disappointing (the XP-67 comes to mind here). This kit falls towards the "good" end of the scale. The engraved detailing is consistent in width and depth, and there are no over-runs or other goofs that I can see. The surface of the major pieces is consistently smooth, a major plus since this aircraft was natural metal or gloss white.

Two exploded diagrams show where the parts go. Two more pages briefly explain exterior colors for three variations in finish (actually four, but one was never used in flight and decals are not provided for it). No information is provided for cockpit, wheelwell, or rocket motor colors. There's also a note that there were minor variations in markings throughout the program, so research will be critical. Fortunately, there are a number of photographic references on-line at various NASA and Air Force websites.

Decals are printed by Scale-Master. They've had their own ups and downs in quality over the years; this sheet also appears to be one of their better efforts. Everything is perfectly registered, images are sharp and colors are vibrant. I forsee no problems using them.

Assembly and Finish

Building this doesn't look to be too difficult. Dry-fitting the major components shows few surprises. Properly aligning the cockpit inside the fuselage will probably be the toughest part, and that just calls for patience and careful test fitting. I'll polish the entire exterior with an automotive finishing kit and then jeweler's rouge before painting, to make sure the surfaces are properly prepaired for the gloss white/ natural metal finish.

Conclusions

This looks like another good kit from Collect-Aire - a bit pricey, but that's what you get with low-volume production runs of esoteric kits. Recommended to those with the interest and some experience working with resin.